1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recreational floatation device to be worn on the lower torso over a bathing suit.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Many people have discovered, or rediscovered, swimming after years of pounding their joints playing tennis, jogging or doing aerobics. Health clubs now offer a wide and growing variety of water exercise classes including deep-water running, water aerobics, water step, water jogging and water weights. In addition to physical benefits, swimming also has psychological benefits that go beyond feeling virtuous, with some swimmers experiencing a relaxed, meditative state. Sometimes people like to sit in the water without swimming, to talk, to play water sports, etc., while others are there to supervise their children.
Many people are not good swimmers, either because they never learned or because of infirmity resulting from disease or advancing age, and lacking confidence in the water, may be left out or pass up recreational opportunities. There are other obstacles too. Women, especially, do not like having to dry their hair and reapply makeup.
An ideal recreational floatation device for a less-confident swimmer or for a swimmer who does not want to get his or her hair wet would float a person head up, feet down, at mid-chest height, most people feeling comfortable in water at that level. The same floatation device would be useful to a swimmer who wants to sit in the water with his hands free to relax, to play water sports, etc.
There are swim suits padded with buoyancy material for the weak swimmer but they make the wearer look fat, make it difficult to bend over and are hot out of the water and, in addition, do not keep the wearer's hair dry. U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,786 to Helt et al. describes a garment, shaped like a diaper and taped at the waist with VELCRO.RTM. hook and loop fasteners, to be worn over a swimming suit. The garment covers the wearer's stomach and buttocks but does not cover or grip his or her hips nor does it encircle the tops of his or her legs.
There are also floatation devices of the kind intended to be worn by the user (e.g., life vests) and of the kind intended to be grasped by the user (e.g., rings and buoyant cushions). These devices are designed to float a person face up with the balance of his body in the water and while useful as a safety provision against a chance that a person may be suddenly thrown into the water are not adapted to use by a swimmer to supplement his or her swimming skills.